Future Students

On Founder's Day, June 10, Grinnellians worldwide sported their Grinnell gear. They also shared their small world stories. Here is a sampling:

A year after graduation, I was at the Fasching (Mardi Gras) parade in Munich, Germany, and ran into a fellow graduate, Alice Sims-Gunzenhauser '74. Six weeks later I ran into her again on a street in Copenhagen. We Grinnellians get around! -Elise Kolbjornsen Anton '75

Grinnell is known for graduating students with a strong sense of social justice—in fact, one part of the mission of Grinnell is to graduate women and men who “work to use their knowledge and their abilities to serve the common good.” Three Grinnell alumni, all focusing on public and international health issues as well as patient care, enrolled at the Medical School for International Health (MSIH) at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Grinnell College Associate Professor Mark Levandoski plans to add to basic scientific knowledge with the three-year $373,000 grant his research was awarded last week by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. His past research, furthered by work under the new grant, Levandoski says, may possibly point to new approaches for addressing some of humankind's most intractable diseases, including Alzheimer's, epilepsy, Parkinson's and schizophrenia.

Grinnell College’s Pete Kieselbach ’10 (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds Park Academy) has been named the Midwest Conference Men’s Golf Performer of the Week. Kieselbach helped the Pioneers achieve a historic milestone last Thursday when Grinnell participated in the Des Moines Area Community College Invitational. Kieselbach won the individual title, Grinnell’s first individual crown since 2002, with an even-par 72 and the Pioneers claimed the team title, the program’s first in more than two decades. On top of that, Grinnell had a team score of 301, the best in program history.

Grinnell College landed a league-best 65 student-athletes on the Midwest Conference All-Academic Team for the 2009-10 winter sports season. Leading the pack were the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams, which had 14 selections each.

The Grinnell College softball team narrowly missed making the Midwest Conference Tournament last season. But with a combination of experience and youth, the Pioneers are hoping to get over that hump in 2010.

“Making the Midwest Conference Tournament is definitely a realistic goal,” said interim head coach Craig Arendt (pictured). “Our goal would be to host it (the MWC South champ hosts in 2010). The conference will be very competitive. I think we’ll be better than last year.”

Grinnell College Athletics recognizes that one of its most important supporters is the community youth. Because of that, the College wants to acknowledge this group by offering a special program for young Pioneer fans.

THE ZONE is a fan club for youth (eighth graders and younger), which provides special benefits to those who enroll. With an annual membership fee, ZONE members receive:

*A ZONE t-shirt

*Three season passes (fall, winter and spring)

*25-cent popcorn

*Invitations to special ZONE events, such as sports clinics, pizza parties, etc.

If you’ve got a few minutes, you can take a whirlwind tour of the world’s musical instruments by visiting Grinnell’s World Music Instrument Collection in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. There, you’ll find instruments as diverse as the tarka flute from the Andes, the djembe drum from West Africa, the tambura lute from India, and the koto zither from Japan, all in the same room. The World Music Instrument Collection serves the Grinnell community in many ways, and even influences far-flung music enthusiasts, thanks to its extensive online database.

Grinnell College will raise its comprehensive fee for the 2009 -10 academic year 3 percent to $45,012 - the same percentage increase in Grinnell’s comprehensive fee as last year, the two lowest percentage increases in more than a decade.

“In what are now very difficult economic times, Grinnell has sought to reduce and contain expenses, while continuing to provide excellent educational opportunities,” said Russell K. Osgood, president.